S.C. Politics Today | Lap dances illegal in S.C. under bill

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“There is not a constitutional right to a lap dance.”

— Scott Bergthold, a Tennessee-based attorney who told an S.C. House panel Thursday that requiring exotic dancers to stay at least 6 feet away from customers would withstand a legal challenge.

CAPITOL CONNECTION

• Lap dances illegal in S.C. under bill

Lap dances would be illegal in South Carolina under a bill passed by a House subcommittee Thursday. The bill, introduced by Rep. Scott Talley, R-Spartanburg, would require dancers in strip clubs to perform on a stage and maintain a 6-foot distance between themselves and patrons.

The bill also would require all sexually oriented businesses to close at midnight.

Strippers and club customers who violated the 6-foot rule could face up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine. Club owners staying open past midnight could face three years in prison and a $1,000 fine.

The House Judiciary Committee will next take up the proposal.

REAL ID

South Carolina is one of two states that have not asked for an extension to comply with new federal security rules for state-issued identification cards.

The Bush administration accepted a compromise from New Hampshire Thursday that will ensure the state’s residents will not be barred from using their driver’s licenses to enter federal buildings and board airplanes beginning in May.

South Carolina and Maine are the only states that have not struck such an agreement to receive an extension from the Homeland Security Department to implement the post-9/11 law called Real ID.

Joel Sawyer, spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford, said Thursday the governor still has not decided whether to seek an extension.

Unless Sanford sends a letter by Monday seeking an extension, S.C. residents no longer can use driver’s licenses as valid identification to board airplanes or enter federal buildings beginning in May. They would have to present a passport or be subjected to secondary screening.

UNDERAGE SOLDIERS AND ALCOHOL

A House subcommittee took no action on a bill that would have allowed military personnel younger than 21 to buy beer and wine in South Carolina.

The state’s legal drinking age is 21. But Rep. Fletcher Smith, D-Greenville, introduced the measure that would relax the law for military personnel. He cited an elevated level of maturity among young members of the armed forces.

Contributing: Staff writers Gina Smith and John O’Connor and The Associated Press